Dispensing machine



` May 9, 1939. F. w. HOBAN 2,157,207 f Ticl.

DI SPENSING MACHINE Filed Aug. 21, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet lV`v` |05 :L "a".IOS/4'! TC] l INVENTOR ATTORNEY May 9, 1939. F. w. HBAN 2,157,207

DISPENSING MACHINE Filed Aug. 2l. 195'?l 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Tia-4 20lNvENToR Fair/ze/d W Hoban BY mwa ATTORNEY May 9, 1939.

DISFENSING MACHINE F. w. HOBAN Filed Aug. 21, 195'? 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 vINVENTOR ATTORNEY May 9, 1939.

F. w. HOBAN 2,157,207

DIsPENsING MACHINE Filed Aug. 2l, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 \NVENTORFaz'r-yL'e/a Hoban BY J-u lle/Cd@- ATTORNEY Patented May 9, 1939 ETOFFICE nrsraNsrNG MACHINE Application August 21,

16 Claims.

The present invention relates to dispensing man chines, and is moreparticularly directed toward machines for dispensing an article from anyone of a number of storage magazines.

The present invention contemplates a dispensing machine having aplurality of article ejectors and associated mechanism for interlockingthe ejectors to prevent improper operation or tampering, and also thearrangement of: the parts to facilitate manufacture economically and toprovide a compact attractive machine,

Other and further objects of the invention will appear as thedescription proceeds.

The present application is a continuation in part of my pendingapplication Serial No. 43,813, iiled October 7, 1935 (now Patent No.2,133,453 of October 18, 1938).

The accompanying drawings show, for purposes of illustrating the presentinvention, one of the many embodiments in which the invention may takeform, it being understood that the drawings are illustrative of theinvention rather than limiting the same.

In these drawings:

Figure l is a front elevational view of the machine;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the same;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 3 3 of Figure 2,parts being omitted;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Figures 3and 6;

Figure 5 is a front elevational view of the interior of the machine,parts being in section on line 5 5 of Figure 3 and parts broken away;

Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 6 6 of Figure4;

Figure 7 is a vertical section similar to Figure 4, showing one of theejectors fully protracted;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary view showing the ejector in an intermediateposition Figure 9 is a' fragmentary vertical sectional view on the line9 9 of Figure 6, to illustrate the ejector interlocking mechanism;

Figures 10 and 11 are vertical sectional views on the lines il| |l] andi-ll, respectively, of Figure 6;

Figure 12 is a perspective view of an ejector; and

Figure 13 is a perspective View ci? an ejector locking device.

The machine is adapted to rest on a table or other support and has abottom casting 2|! which supports all the parts of the machine. Thecasting has a bottom wall 2| which in plan is apapproximatelysemi-circular, as will be apparent 1337, Serial No. 160,224

(Cl. S12-68) from the drawings. It is provided with an arc shapeddelivery chute 22 formed by upwardly and rearwardly curving walls 23.The casting is also provided with an annular upwardly opening raceway ortrough 24 (Figure 3) disposed behind the upper part of the walls 23.

A cover plate 25, also in the form of a cast ing, is secured to thecasting 2|) by screws indicated at 26, these castings being aligned bydowels indicated at 2l. The cover plate 25 covers the trough 24.

The casting 25 has a front vertical wall 28 in line with the wall 23 ofthe base casting 20 and these walls are, as shown in Figure 9, slottedat 29 and 3E! to accommodate a plurality of recipro- 15 catory articleejectors or plungers 3 l. The plungers or ejectors 3| extend across thetrough 24, passing through slots 32 in the rear wall of the trough, theplungers having a comparatively thin, vertical fin-like portion 33 totraverse these slots. Ifhis portion of each plunger is provided with anaperture 34 normally between the trough walls and into which balls 35carried in the trough or raceway 24 may enter when displaced by theshifting of an ejector outwardly. The plungers are held in the retractedor normal position by 25 springs 33 secured in holes 31 on the plungersand to a spring anchorage 38 secured to a post 39 attached to the basecasting 2U. Lugs or anchorages 3l are shaped to ll the openings 29 whenthe plungers are retracted.

The inner top portion of the ejectors or plungers 3i has a T-shaped headprovided with ratchet teeth 40, which project up through slot 30 in thecover casting 25 to co-operate with pawls 42 pivoted at 42 and held innormal position by springs 43 secured to an arcuate ring 44 carried bythe casting 25. The T-shaped head of the plunger has a lug 45 whichsubstantially closes the opening 3|] when the plunger is in normalposition.

The rear of the cover casting 25 has two brackets 45 apertured toreceive screws 41 and interconnected by a bridge 48. The screws 4l arethreaded into the arms 49 of a bearing member 45 59 apertured to receivea shaft 5| which is biased to turn counter-clockwise by a spring to bedescribed below.

The lower end of the shaft 5| carries a sector shaped plate 52 whichextends under the inner ends of the ejectors 3|. This plate has cams 53on its upper face, each oi which enters a notch 54 in an ejector. Theinner wall 54 of the notch acts as a cam to engage the cam. 53 and turnthe shaft 5| counter-clockwise. The bottom of the cam plate 52 has lugs55 which are adapted to traverse notches 56 in the lower arms 51 of theretracted ejectors, the protracted ejector being moved beyond the rangeof movement of these lugs.

The lugs 55 and notches 56 insure that the ejector be completelyretracted and that the plate 52, shaft 5| and all devices (includinglatch 69 to be described) return to their normal position before anotherejector can be pulled out. This makes it impossible for one to pull outa second ejector before the latching mechanism 69 functions to lock theplate against movement. Owing to the possibility of pulling on oneejector to take up the slack between the balls as the other ejector isslowly let back to rest, the ball interlock alone is likely to operatetoo sluggishly to prevent such tampering. It is, however, rugged andfunctions fully except where a pulling force is exerted on the secondejector as the first is slowly returned.

The screws 41 which attach the lower bearing member 49 to the coverplate 25 also pass through feet 58 and 59 of a U-shaped strap 60extending upwardly alongside the shaft 5| and apertured at 6| toaccommodate a bearing bushing 62 for the upper end of the shaft 5|. Thebushing is secured to a forwardly extending platform member 63 having adownwardly extending front portion 64 secured to the casting 25 by screw65.

The upper end of the shaft 5| is pinned to an arm 66 which acts as acoin chute (the coin being received from coin scale and scavengingmechanisrn, shown in the application above referred to, the lattermechanism being secured to a channel shaped member 61 secured to theU-strap 60 by bolts 61. The arm 66 is biased in a clockwise direction bya spring 68 connecting the arm and channel shaped member 61.

The coin chute arm 66 is adapted to hold a coin of the properdenomination vertical, and when an ejector 3| acts on the cam plate 52to shift the shaft 5| this coin is brought against a latch 69 pivoted at10 to the platform 63 and raises the latch to permit a full stroke ofthe ejector and to pass the coin to the hole 63 in the plate 63. In theabsence of a coin an extension 12 on the coin shifter engages the latchand further movement of the shaft and ejector are rendered impossible,all as set forth in the application above referred to. This latchmechanism may be manually released, if desired.

The forward portion 13 of the cover plate 25 is provided with threeupwardly extending lugs 15 tapped to receive screws. These lugs supporta strap 16 by means of screws 11 passing through certain of themagazines 18, as shown. These magazines are also secured to the strap byscrews 19. The magazines are made of sheet metal and extend down to theplungers or ejectors 3|.

Above and in front of the delivery chute 22 is a xedly supported curvedfront member which at the rear has downward extensions 8| provided withfeet 82 secured to the casting 20 by screws 83. This front member 80 isoutside the lower ends of the magazines, is apertured for the ejectors,and carries inwardly extending shelf-like members 84 below the level ofthe top of the ejectors and into which the stack of articles in themagazine drops when the ejector is withdrawn to bring the shoulder 85outside the stack (see Figure '7). On release of the ejector the springpulls it back and the shoulder 85 pushes the article from the magazinewhereupon it falls down past the fin 33 into the delivery chute.

The front 80 carries an inwardly extending element 86 which preventsaccess to the mechanism. The ends of the trough 22 are closed by plates81 and 88 carried in guides 89 and 90 and enter into recesses 9| in thecasting 20.

The bottom casting 20, the ejectors 3| and front 80 may be readilyassembled, forming a base portion of the machine, The cover plate withpawls 42, pawl springs 43 and ring 44, previously assembled. as a unit,may be secured in place, and then the shaft 5| with cam plate 52 securedin place by the bearing member 50. The strap 60 and platform 63 andassociated parts may be readily attached to the cover casting 25. Thecoin chute or arm 66 may then be pinned to the shaft 5| and the upright61 and mechanism carried thereby secured in place. The magazines 18 andstrap 15 may be attached to the plate 25. All these assembly operationsmay take place before the mechanism is enclosed in a cabinet and alltesting carried out.

The back of the machine is indicated at 92. It has forwardly extendingside elements 93 and 94 which are secured to the front member 80 bybolts, indicated at 95 and 96. The side element 93 at the left carries ahinge 91 which supports a front cover 98. The lower edge of the coveroverlaps the upper part of the front member 80, as is clear from Figures4 and 7, and its free edge 99 embraces the front edge of the side 94, asshown in Figure 6. The free edge of the cover carries an inwardlyextending lug |00 which is engaged by a hook shaped member |0I pivotedto a plate |02 carried by the bolts 96. The hook |0| is connected withan operating rod |03 having a grip |04 at the top.

A top cover |05 is hinged at |06 to the back plate. This cover overliesthe front of the front cover, as indicated in Figure 4, and the partsmay be locked together by a lock, indicated at |01. The top cover cannotbe closed unless the rod |03 is pushed down, thereby insuring thelocking of the hinged front cover before the top cover is closed. Thehinged cover 98 has elongated front openings |08 behind which aresecured glass panels |09 disposed opposite the magazines, so as topermit viewing the contents of the magazines.

Followers IIB (see Figure 13) are adapted to be placed on top of thearticles in the stack, and after the last article has been ejected fromthe stack, the ejector is arrested against movement by the entry of aprong ||2 on the follower into notches on the ejector.

When the device is assembled as shown in the drawings, and merchandise,for example, packages of gum, placed in the magazines, one can try toactuate the machine without depositing a coin. When the selected ejectoris grasped and pulled outwardly it rst brings this ejector beyond therange of movement of the corresponding lug 55 on the cam plate, and thenthe cam 54 engages the camming lug 53 on the cam plate to start swingingthis cam plate about its axis. By the time the cam plate is swung farenough to be stopped by the latch mechanism 69, the sliders or balls 35will have been moved so as to lock all the other ejectors againstmovement. On release of the selected ejector it returns to normalposition. If, however, a coin had been inserted into the machine thelatch 69 would have been released and further withdrawal of the ejectcrwould have brought the teeth 40 on the ejector past the locking pawl 42so that there could have been no return movement until the stroke hadbeen completed. When the ejector is withdrawn to the full extent andthen released, it pushes the lowermost portion of merchandise inwardly,as shown in Figure 7, and allows it to drop down into the deliverychute.

It is obvious that the invention may be embodied in many forms andconstructions within the scope of the claims and I wish it to beunderstood that the particular form shown is but one of the many forms.Various modications and changes being possible, I do not otherwise limitmyself in any way with respect thereto.

What is claimed is:

l. In a dispensing machine, a base having an arcuate delivery chute, anaxially disposed spring anchorage, a plurality of radially disposed,horizontally reciprocable article ejectors carried in the base above thechute, a plurality of radially extending springs secured to saidanchorage and to the ejectors for restoring the ejectors tonormalposition, and an article storage magazine above each ejector and fromwhich the ejector is adapted to remove an article, the magazines beingequidistant from the axis about which the ejectors are disposed.

2. A dispensing machine such as claimed in claim 1, having ejectorinterlocking mechanism whereby only one ejector may be actuated at atime, said mechanism comprising an arcuate raceway in the base acrosswhich the ejectors extend and members in the raceway, the ejectorshavingrecesses into which the members may enter and camming surfacesadjacent the recesses for displacing the members when the selectedejector is actuated.

3. A dispensing machine such as claimed in claim 1, wherein each ejectorrestoring spring is stretched to extend in front of the wall of thedelivery chute when the ejector is projected, and wherein the chute wallis apertured to accommodate the springs and ejectors.

4. In a dispensing machine, a base having an arcuate delivery chute, aplurality of radially disposed, horizontally reciprocable articleejectors carried in the base above the chute, springs for restoring theejectors to normal position, an article storage magazine above eachejector and from which the ejector is adapted to remove an article, acam plate movably supported by the base, a spring biasing the cam plateto one position, ejector-carried cams for shifting the cam plate againstthe spring tension, and interlocking elements carried by the cam plateand ejectors for locking the non-selected ejectors against movement whena selected ejector is moved out of normal position,

5. In` a dispensing machine, a base having an upwardly opening, arcuateraceway, a front wall spaced from the raceway, a plurality of radiallydisposed, horizontally reciprocable article ejectors extending acrossthe raceway and through the front wall and having recesses normally inthe raceway, ejector interlocking members in the raceway displaceable bymovement of one ejector to force them into recesses in the otherejectors and prevent operation of more than one ejector at a time, and astorage magazine above the portion of each ejector inside said frontwall and from which the ejector is adapted to remove an article.

6. A dispensing machine such as claimed in claim 5, wherein the base hasan inwardly extending partition vvall carried by the lower part of thefront wall, and a wall extending downwardly and forwardly from theraceway behind the partition wall to form a delivery chute.

7. In a dispensing machine, a base having an upwardly opening, arcuateraceway, a front wall spaced from the raceway, a plurality of radiallydisposed, horizontally reciprocable article ejectors extending acrossthe raceway and through the iront wall and having recesses normally inthe raceway, ejector interlocking members in the raceway displaceable bymovement of one ejector to force them into the recesses in the otherejectors and prevent operation of more than one ejector at a time, araceway cover having radial slots through which the ejectors extend, apawl pivoted to the cover above each ejector and coh operating withratchet teeth on said ejector to require a full stroke of the selectedejector, and a storage magazine above the portion of each ejector insidesaid front wall and from which the ejector is adapted to remove anarticle.

8. A dispensing machine such as claimed in claim 7, wherein the storagemagazines are secured to the raceway cover.

9. In a dispensing machine, a horizontal raceway having slots in itsside walls, a raceway cover having slots above the raceway, articleejectors extending across the raceway and occupying the slots in thewalls and cover, members in the raceway displaceable by movement of oneejector to force them into the recesses in the other ejectors andprevent operation of more than one ejector at a time, ratchet teethcarried by the top of each ejector, and a cover supported pawlco-operative with the teeth on each ejector to require a full strokeoperation thereof.

10. A dispensing machine Such as claimed in claim 9, wherein theejectors have downwardly extending spring anchorages to one side of theraceway, and having ejector restoring springs secured to the anchorages,and to a fixed support and extending underneath the raceway.

l1. In a dispensing machine, an article storage magazine laterallyopening at the bottom and having a slotted support for articles storedtherein, a transversely extending reciprocable article dispensernormally extending through said slot and having a shoulder whichseparates a front elevated portion from a lower vertical fin portion, tothe rear thereof, and an ejector restoring spring, the shoulder beingengageable with the article when the dispenser is moved against thespring tension and laterally shifting the article on said bottom and outof the magazine When the spring restores the plunger to normal position,the article falling down past the n portion.

l2. In a dispensing machine, a base provided with a delivery chute, aplurality of slots in the wall of the chute, a plurality of manuallyoperable, horizontally reciprocable article ejectors eX- tending throughthe slots in the chute, springs connected to the ejectors and to thebase and acting to restore the ejectors, a plate secured to the base andcovering a portion of each ejector, the plate having a forwardlyextending portion and a plurality of article storage magazines carriedby said portion of the plate one above each ejector.

13. A dispensing machine such as claimed in claim l2, wherein the r-earends of the ejectors have ratchet teeth and the cover plate carriesco-operative pawls to insure a full stroke of the ejector.

14. A dispensing machine having a fixed support, a plurality of manuallyoperable, reciprocatory ejectors, springs connected to the ejectors andto the support and acting to restore the ejectors, a member movable withrespect to the support and biased to a xed position and having aplurality of cams each operable by an ejector during the initialmovement thereof away from normal position for shifting the movablemember away from normal position and preventing the return of themovable member to normal position until the ejector has completed itsreturn stroke, and interengaging elements carried by the movable 'memberand the ejectors which lock all the non-selected ejectors againstmovement when a selected ejector is out of normal position.

15. A dispensing machine such as claimed in claim 14, having a troughacross which the ejectors extend and ejector locking members in thetrough, co-operable with member displacing elements carried by theejectors.

16. A dispensing machine having a fixed support, a plurality of radiallydisposed, manually operable, reciprocatory ejectors, springs connectedto the ejectors and to the support and acting to restore the ejectors,an oscillatory cam plate biased to a fixed position and having aplurality of cams each operable by an ejector during the initialmovement thereof away from normal position for shifting the cam plateaway from normal position and preventing the return of the cam plate tonormal position until the ejector has completed its return stroke, andinterengaging elements carried by the cam plate and the ejectors whichlock all the non-selected ejectors against movement when a selectedejector is out of normal position.

FAIRFIELD W. HOBAN.

